the reference to the late calm of the opposition

Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Republican party, attends a meeting at the municipal theater of Saint-Quentin on 6 December. Jean-Claude Coutausse / French politics for Le Monde

A leaflet was placed on the red velvet armchairs of the Jean-Vilar Theater in Saint-Quentin, Aisne: "Stop the motorists' racket!" The tone, Thursday 6 December, still wants it"Appeasement" from Laurent Wauquiez. The president of the Republicans of the party (LR) has accepted, in the morning, the cancellation of the tax increase on fuels decided by Emmanuel Macron, the same ones who helped launch the mobilization of "yellow jackets".

In front of 200 party activists gathered for a meeting, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region swears he does not want "Practice the politics of the worst". "We all have the responsibility to stop the spiral of violence", assures M. Wauquiez, burnt by the fire of the prefecture of Haute-Loire, l & # 1;st December, in "his" city of Puy-en-Velay, which he headed for almost six years.

Better, the fierce opponent of the President of the Republic ensures that his party is "Ready to contribute to a work of reflection" with the executive on the "Wasting of public money and taxes" for "Renewing the thread of dialogue disconnected from tax violence". On the eve of new events that they could watch, Saturday, according to Elysee, people come "Break and kill"it is urgent to pay attention. You should not be accused of throwing oil on the fire.

"The worst drifts"

The attitude of the president of LR corresponds to that of an entire section of the opposition that walks today on a ridge: on the one hand, the pressure continues on Emmanuel Macron, who is going through the deepest crisis of the his five-year term; from the other, it does not seem to be responsible for the irritating anger.

Laurent Wauquiez, president of LR, during a meeting at the municipal theater of Saint-Quentin, 6 December 2018 Jean-Claude Coutausse / French-politics for Le Monde

"I call everyone to measure and reject all forms of violence, they would have generated the worst drifts of which the Republic would have been the first victim", wrote François Hollande, Thursday, in a statement. The former head of state was joined to his call by the socialist group of the National Assembly. This should not prevent PS deputies from joining their voices on Monday, December 10, to a joint motion of censure against the government, with France insubordinate (LFI) and the Communist Party. A week ago, Hollande encouraged the "yellow jackets" for " to continue " their mobilization. "We have to keep talking so I can drive", he estimated on November 29, in front of the protesters gathered in Ardeche.

Because before calling for calm and respect for order, LR and PS, like most opposition parties, provided frank and massive support for the expression of "yellow jackets". Mr. Wauquiez did not hesitate to wear a fluorescent chasuble during a demonstration in Le Puy-en-Velay on November 24th – which he first denied, before he had to admit the obvious, supporting photos.

A week before, on November 17, the Mayor of Puy-en-Velay, led by a close friend of Mr. Wauquiez, invited the "yellow jackets" to come and share a "Hot drink" near the prefecture for "Exchanges on excessive increases in fuel prices"as he wrote on his Facebook page. The president of the LR went to the place at that moment, under the eyes of the national media, and saw around him agglomerated some elected local and militants of his field wearing a yellow jacket.

"We attack the symbols of the state"

"There are irresponsible politicians and politiciansOn Thursday, Richard Ferrand, president of the National Assembly, who specifically targeted the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, denounced. It is no coincidence that the prefecture of Puy-en-Velay has been burned. When one spends his time stimulating the detestation of the state, then at a given moment attacks the symbols of the state and this is the political irresponsibility. "

Today, some elected LRs, like Deputy Yonne Guillaume Larrivé, call "yellow jackets" for not " to go up " in Paris. "The break with macronism should not be done by chaos, but by voting", says Mr. Larrivé. "Emmanuel Macron, his policy is unjust and ineffective, we ask him to regain order and justice, we do not claim his head"adds Jean Leonetti, vice president of LR.

Read also "Yellow Gilet": for the opposition, the decline of the government is a "trap", or "too little, too late"

Things are easier to handle in the case of Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which certainly condemns violence, but allows it to play more freely than the radical. Wednesday at the National Assembly, the leader of the LFI, which requires "Citizen Revolution", he was rather satisfied with the lower blade "déagagiste". "Happy are the days we live in, because at last France has entered the general rebellion against an unjust order that has lasted too long", the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône congratulates the gallery.And the former socialist senator rushes to the prime minister: "Give up or go away, and as you leave, surrender first."

The president of the National Gathering, for his part, granted himself a "Little reminder" on Twitter, Thursday: "On Saturday 8 December, there would be no more demonstrators in the streets if the president had deigned to speak to the French, giving them the means to live decently from their work, and expressing them the consideration they expect and deserve." While some members of the majority have launched a slogan, "#stopviolences", on social networks, an adviser to Mmyself The pen, Jean Messiha, replied that the "Power of the Macronist" will "Legitimate to say #stopviolences" when he "Stop economic, social and fiscal violence" is "It will stop hating France and its people". The soothing is good for others.